HAVANA (AP) — Pope Francis plans to meet with Cuba's president and its priests, its young and its sick, its churchgoers and its seminarians as he travels around the island starting Saturday. But not its dissidents.The absence on Francis' agenda of any meeting with the political opposition has sparked bitter critiques from dissidents who say they feel let down by an institution they believe should help push for greater freedom in Cuba."He should exert more pressure," said Antonio Rodiles, head of the hardline group Estado de SATS. "In many cases political systems have come under international pressure that has resulted in change, and that's what needs to be happen with Cuba."Papal observers say it's likely Francis will speak strongly to Cubans about the need for greater freedom in their country and may speak to President Raul Castro in private about the same topic. But in shying from meetings with dissidents, the pope is hewing largely to the Cuban Catholic Church's strategy of advocating for change within bounds laid out by the communist state rather than pushing the system to change as...

Oh, this is schadenfreude-licious. Outspoken celebrity Democratic activist/donor Matt Damon opened his mouth and let the truth about the left's superficial commitment to "diversity" slip out.Now, liberal ideologues are furiously whacking the relentless GOP-bashing actor for his "white privilege." There's even a Twitter hashtag — "#damonsplaining" — that erupted this week to mock his unforgivable political transgression.Here's what happened. Damon (along with his progressive pal Ben Affleck) co-produces the television series "Project Greenlight," which gives wannabe filmmakers the opportunity to compete for a shot at directing their first feature film. The current season's prize script features a man who weds a black prostitute after being abandoned at the altar. On this week's episode of the show, aired on HBO, Damon dressed down black female producer Effie Brown for pushing the judges to give special consideration to a directing duo consisting of a white woman and a Vietnamese-American man.

An impatient Damon retorted: "When we're talking about diversity, you do it in the casting of the film, not in the casting of the show."An offended Brown responded as if the wind had been knocked out of her: "Hooh! Wow, OK."Damon went on to remind Brown that the rules of the competition called for judging candidates "based entirely on merit." And that politically incorrect principle set his loony liberal friends' hair on fire.Huffington Post huffed that Damon was "tone-deaf." CBS News reported: "Internet outraged after Matt Damon interrupts black woman filmmaker to explain diversity." The holier-than-thou white leftists at Jezebel.com sneered at Damon for donning his "Smart White Man" cape. One enraged YouTuber headlined the exchange: "Matt Damon goes 'Massa' on producer Effie Brown."Poor dear. Damon is guilty of a classic...

When states, counties, and towns redraw political districts, is it constitutional for them to include individuals who are ineligible to vote, such as noncitizens?Or does that dilute the vote of eligible citizens and violate the one-person, one-vote standard that the U.S. Supreme Court established for all redistricting fifty years ago in Reynolds v. Sims (1964)?The Supreme Court is set to finally decide this issue in Evenwel v. Abbott—something it has avoided for decades up until this year.In Evenwel, two Texas voters claim that including noncitizens in the population used to draw their legislative districts violates the Equal Protection Clause. These voters were placed by the state legislature in senate districts whose voting populations deviate anywhere from 31 to 49 percent from the ideal population of a...

Non-citizens in the U.S.—and especially recent Middle Eastern refugees—are addicted to welfare programs, two newly released studies suggest.Although open-borders propaganda typically claims that illegal aliens are hardworking and industrious, one of the reports unveiled yesterday showed that among illegal alien households with children, a shocking 87 percent accept benefits from one or more welfare programs, compared to just 52 percent of native households.

The reports come as a rancorous debate rages in American society over what immigration policies best serve the economic, cultural, and national security interests of the United States. Americans on both sides of the partisan divide are becoming increasingly angry that the nation’s borders are porous and that illegal aliens are able to access generous government benefits upon arrival. Presidential candidate Donald Trump has rocketed to the top of the GOP field largely by opposing amnesty and pushing for the enforcement of existing laws, including the removal of millions of illegals.Although illegal aliens impose a heavy burden on taxpayers, legal permanent residents are even more likely to be enamored of public welfare programs, according to Steven Camarota, the author of one of the reports and director of research at the respected nonpartisan Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).Legal immigrant households make extensive use of most welfare programs, while illegal alien households primarily benefit from food programs and Medicaid through U.S.-born children. According to the report, low levels of education, as opposed to a refusal to work, help to explain this higher use of welfare by legal aliens, who are also known as lawful permanent residents (green card holders). The report states: